Campylobacter is one of the most important foodborne pathogens that cause bacterial gastroenteritis.This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter in conventional and organic retail poultry samples purchased from grocery stores in Tulsa, Oklahoma.One hundred and fifty six chilled retail chicken samples (85 conventional and 71 organic) and 65 chilled retail conventional turkey samples were collected in this study. The prevalence of Campylobacter in the conventional chicken samples 32/85 (38%) was higher than in the organic ones 21/71 (30%). The prevalence of Campylobacter in the conventional turkey samples was 11/65 (17%). Of the 53 positive chicken samples, 42 were C. jejuni, 8 were C. coli and three isolates were contaminated with both species. Of the 11 positive turkey samples, 8 contained C. jejuni and 3 harbored C. coli isolates. The antimicrobial susceptibility of one hundred and forty nine recovered Campylobacter isolates (130 chickens and 19 turkeys) towards sixteen antimicrobials was determined. The majority of the recovered turkey isolates (13/19) showed resistance to more than 7 antimicrobials while most of the recovered chicken ones (82/130) were resistant to 5 to 7 antimicrobials. Multidrug resistance was not limited to isolates from conventional sources but was also available in isolates of an organic background and was generally lower in C. jejuni isolates when compared to the C. coli ones.
Keywords: Antibiotic Resistance; Campylobacter; Chicken; Food borne Pathogens; Organic; Prevalence; Retail Poultry; Turkey..